Switch-valve for pneumatic conveyers.



No. 678,ll9. Patented July 9, I90l. '1'. LEE.

SWITCH VALVE FOR PNEUMATIC CONVEYEBS. 7

( Application filed Nov. 13, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

THOMAS LEE, OF HOME CITY, OHIO.

SWITCH-VALVE FOR PNEUMATIC CONVEYERS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 678,119, dated July 9,1901.

Application filed November 13, 1899. Serial No. 736,778. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS LEE, a citizen of the United States, residingat Home City, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Switch-Valves for PneumaticConveyors, &c., of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to switch-valves for pneumatic conveyers, 850.,being designed for use more particularly in connection with suchconveyers as are used, for instance, in the feeding of shavings,sawdust, and the like to boiler and other furnaces. It is customary inapparatus of this type to provide two diverging conduits, one of whichleads to the furnace and the other to the shavings or dust room, a valvebeing located at the j unctionof these conduits with the main conduit,so that the material may be directed to the furnace when it is desiredto feed the same, and by shifting the valve the material may be divertedfrom the furnace to the dustroom. Such valves as usually constructedconsist of a plate pivoted at one of its margins at the point of meetingof the two conduits and swinging outward at its free margins towardeither one of the conduits which it is desired to close. It has beenfound in practice that valves of this type are apt to become clogged byreason of the catching or lodging of shavings on the free margin of thevalve, and thereby preventing it from closing. It has also been foundthat such valves are so acted on by the suction of the passing blastthat when the valve is closed on the furnace side it will be opensufficiently to permit an induced current from the furnace to thedustroom, which current is apt to carry sparks from the furnace to thedust-room, and thus start a fire therein.

It is the object of my present invention to overcome the difiicultiesattendant upon such valves as heretofore constructed; and to this end myinventionconsists in certain novel features which I will now proceed todescribe and will then particularly point out in the claim. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of astructure embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a similar view, partly in elevation, taken on the line 4 4of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a plan view.

ln the said drawings, 1 indicates a suitable casing, having an inlet 2at its top, at which point it is adapted to be connected with the mainconduit through which the materialis fed. Below its top the casing 1diverges to form two outlet-passages 3 and 4, the former of which isconnected with a conduit leading to the furnace, while the latter isconnected with a conduit leading to the dust-room or other. suitablepoint of discharge. Within the inlet-opening of the casing is located acollar 5, two sides of which are bent up, as indicated at 6, to meet thewalls of the easing and form stop-flanges against which the valve maybear. The remaining two sides of the collar are offset from the adjacentwalls of the casing, as indicated in Fig. at of the drawings, andextenddownward in a tapering or V shape, forming guards 7, between whichand the walls of the casing the side plates of the valve move.

8 indicates the valve proper, which is a plate of about twice the lengthof the ordinary= valve, said plate being pivoted at its middle at thejunction of the passages 3 and 4.. I prefer to provide a pivotal axis inthe form of a flat bar 9, secured to the valve-plate by the guard-plates7 and the body of the casing,

as hereinbefore pointed out.

It will be observed that my improved valve swings in a directionopposite to that in which the ordinary valve swings. In other words, toclose either one of the passages my improved valve swings away from thatpassage, while to open it it swings toward it. By reason. of this modeof operation the valve in closing the mouth of one of the conduits movesagainst the incoming current and is therefore not likely to have anyshavings or the like find lodgment on its edge, as they will do when toothe valves move along with the current in closing the passage. Thestop-flanges 6 serve as abutments against which the valve may be closed,making the closure of the passage practically air-tight. It will beobserved that in the position of the parts shown, in which the valve isso arranged as to close that one of the passages which leads to thefurnace, the suction due to the passage of the blast tends to close thevalve more firmly instead of tending to open it, as is the case with theordinary valve, and the danger of sparks from induced currents isthereby done away with. The side plates and theirguards serve to guidethe valve during its movement and prevent any clogging of the same bythe accumulation of shavings or dust.

